And you have probably been solo diving longer than SDI has issued a solo card. Dive shops have also been performing cave fills for a long time, too. That doesn't make it legal or right. I'll bring up the same tired old argument:
Attorney for your wife/mother/kids: Well, Captain Wasson, was the deceased certified to dive solo/deep/on Trimix/with a drysuit?
Captain Frank: Duuh. I dunno.
Attorney: Did you let the diver in the water knowing that he/she would dive solo/deep/on trimix/wearing a drysuit?
Ex-captain Frank: Well Yeah! They told me on an internet chat board that they had much more experience and training than any old diving instructor could teach them, and that they should be allowed to dive solo/deep/on trimix/with a drysuit. They signed a waiver!
I'm sorry, guys, but I am an insurance driven beast, especially since I try to keep my rates down and keep your costs down, as explained on another thread. Finding a more liberal insurance company is not, I believe, the right answer. The right answer is to change the attitude of americans (such as those posting on another thread in the accidents forum) that think that dive operators need to keep their passengers safe. I can't keep you safe, only you can dive safely, warn your next of kin that diving is inherently dangerous, and convince them to leave the boat operator alone when you croak. Then we need to reform our system of torts so that an ambulance chaser can't slime up to the next of kin and convince them that SOMEONE owes them money because their diver husband/father/daughter didn't check their SPG often enough and ran out of air at depth.
Some dive operators (and I will PM you a list of names if you want) allow their divers to dive any way they want to and just don't carry insurance, or carry a minimal amount. After all, when an operator gets sued, it is usually for the limit of liability insurance, not for any reasonable amount. I do know this for a fact, and have 2 personally viewed cases to back up the assertion. These other operators carry the minimum required by their bank, keep mortgages on the boat, keep their personal assets in trust, so have nothing worth going after in a civil court. If someone croaks on the boat or while diving, oh well, bring 'em home, load up the next bunch, it it some more. There is nothing for anyone to go after.
In closing, I don't feel that there are enough people out there that want a free-for-all dive experience to justify changing my philosophy or way of doing business, when the majority of my customers dive with me because they "feel safe" on the Spree. That is the number 1 piece of feedback I receive from my customers. We have genuinely tried to add trips that allow the independant diver more freedoms, allow full use of dive computers, allow solo diving within restrictions, allow rebreathers and tech profiles, etc. I still cater, though, to the majority of divers, that is, open water or advanced, wanting nitrox, diving with a buddy, hugging the fish (figuratively).
Now, instead of bashing my insurance company, pop the $150 for the stupid solo card, buy a pony, and get on the boat. Then you can dive mamoth lake on Friday afternoon before the boat sails.
Frank
